A wide variety of organometallic compounds are constantly developed to provide additional synthetic routes to other compounds of selected metals. The synthetic chemistry of actinide metals is of particular interest as it may yield new methods for environmental controls or clean-up of such metals as well as provide improved synthetic routes to both known and new compounds of such metals.
Clark et al. disclose, in Inorganic Chemistry, vol. 28, pgs. 1771-1773 (1989), uranium triiodide adducts. There was no suggestion of applying this chemistry to actinide metals, other than uranium.
Karraker et al. disclose, in Inorganica Chimica Acta, 139, pgs. 189-191 (1987), the reaction of diiodoethane with the actinide metals neptunium and plutonium in tetrahydrofuran as a solvent to yield the respective metal iodine tetrahydrofuran complex. Such a method has been previously reported for the lanthanide metals samarium and ytterbium (see, Girard et al., JACS, 102, 1980, 2693). Problems with the Karraker et al. process include the use of diiodoethane, a known carcinogen, and the evolution of ethylene, a flammable gas. Karraker et al. further disclose that their process does not work with, e.g., thorium and uranium metals.
Deacon et al. disclose, in Polyhedron, 7, pgs. 249-250 (1988), the reaction of uranium with mercuric halides, specifically the chloride or iodide, in boiling tetrahydrofuran to yield a uranium halide tetrahydrofuran complex. A problem with this process is that a very large excess of uranium metal must be used to form the uranium trihalide as elemental mercury formed in the reaction forms an unreactive amalgam with uranium metal.
Asprey et al. disclose, in Inorg. Chem., 3, pgs. 1137-1140 (1964), the reaction of lanthanide metals with mercuric halides at high temperatures in a tube furnace to yield anhydrous lanthanide trihalides.
It is an object of this invention to provide novel organometallic compounds of actinide metals such as thorium, plutonium, neptunium and americium.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a convenient low temperature synthesis of actinide halides from actinide metals such as thorium, plutonium, neptunium and americium by the intermediate formation of organometallic compounds of such actinide metals.